The Seer and the Snake
by rainbowspring
Summary: Astoria Greengrass is a Seer. Can she possibly change the future? And what does Draco Malfoy have to do with any of this?
1. Prologue

**I had this idea a couple of days ago. I originally was just going to make this a one-shot, but I kept expanding on it in my mind, so I decided to make this a multi-chapter story. As usual, this story does not relate to my other HP fanfics: ****Workplace Rumors, The Escapades of Three Slytherin Girls, Draco and Astoria's Infinite Playlist, Reasons Not to Insult****.., and ****Maybe.**** Now, without further ado- or if I'm being really honest with you, just a little bit ado- please enjoy Chapter 1 of ****The Seer and the Snake****!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter**** or any of the characters used in this story. **

The Seer and the Snake, Chapter 1: Prologue

It was the last night at Hogwarts, and while the rest of the school may have been in mourning for the death of beloved Hogwarts Champion, Cedric Diggory, Slytherin House was most certainly not. Quite the contrary, actually. There was a celebration in the common room on this last night of term before the summer holidays. The Slytherins were not celebrating Cedric's death, though were not particularly in mourning either; what they were really celebrating about was the return of Lord Voldemort.

The stormy night sky and rain drops that fell like waterfalls were nothing in comparison to the euphoria that was taking place in the Slytherin common room. All of the Slytherins were celebrating, as though there was nothing more wondrous in the world as Voldemort's return. Many of their families supported Voldemort, and even the students whose families did not believe in Voldemort's or old fashioned pure –blood philosophy were celebrating without a care in the world. Oh yes, it was quite the party in Slytherin; every soul in the room was joyous and triumphant, celebrating as if it were their last night on Earth, a smile never leaving their features once. All of them were happy.

All of them that is except for one. A lone Slytherin sat by the window, looking outside as the raindrops hit the ground and listened as the thunder crackled outside, though she seemed to be the only one who could hear it. She alone appeared to be the only one not joining in the festivities.

Meanwhile Draco Malfoy was having the time of his life. The Dark Lord would soon rise back to power, and his family would be even higher in society than they were now. He loved how upsetting this was to his enemies; they definitely would treat him with a lot more respect in time, even bow down before him. As Draco took another swig of Butterbeer (Lucian Bole had went down to the kitchens and smuggled some in,) he noticed that not everyone was celebrating. He almost frowned for the first time since Diggory's death. Everyone should be engaged in this party; anyone who wasn't was, in his mind, a traitor towards Slytherin.

Draco walked over to the girl and recognized her fairly quickly. He knew her, he'd recognize her just by her hair alone anywhere: the girl had platinum blonde hair with brown streaks in it that Draco was 99% sure weren't entirely natural. Her name was Astoria Greengrass, two years his junior to himself as well as to a girl in his year who was a fellow Slytherin named Daphne Greengrass. He'd be lying if he had said he had never spoken to Astoria before, but she was not amongst his group of friends. In fact, he barely knew her well at all.

"Why aren't you celebrating?" Draco demanded of the second year, whose eyes seemed to be transfixed on looking outside. At the moment, some lighting flashed. He was about to ask again, when Astoria said softly, "A boy just died, and you expect me to celebrate his death?"

Her tone was as cold as ice, yet calm and Draco felt slightly uncomfortable when she put it that way. He had never felt any animosity towards Cedric Diggory, though they most certainly were never friends. In fact, Draco could not recall ever speaking to Cedric before his death. Still, Draco would not show that though, and replied with," Who cares about him? The Dark Lord has returned, and that's all that matters. Everything will be as it once was again."

Draco's grey eyes glistened with excitement as he spoke. Astoria's eyes however, narrowed.

"Tell me Malfoy, what is so wonderful about millions of people being scared out of their minds, genocide towards all Muggles and Muggleborns, and everyone suffering? And yes, I say everyone, because even if you're on His side, it in no way means that you are safe. Tell me, does that still sound so great and glorious now, Draco?"

Draco stared at her. She had completely argued with him, even mocked him by calling him his first name, something which he forbade anyone doing without his permission. He glared at her.

"You're such an idiot, Greengrass. Really, it's all right. I don't know why you're so concerned, Greengrass; you're sister is partying."

"That's because Daphne doesn't understand what's going on," Astoria said in a sweet voice, though her eyes told a different story." She's a party animal by nature, and she's just celebrating because everyone else is, not because of what's happened. She's celebrating because it's the last night at Hogwarts until September; there is nothing wrong with that. However, when people such as you are actually celebrating _because_ of what has and is going to happen… well, I honestly pray for your soul, Malfoy; because if I am an idiot, which I am not I'll have you know, then you are ten times the fool I am."

Astoria stood up and moved towards the Girls' Dormitory, one hand on the door, when she called back over her shoulder to Draco, "Who's the real fool here, do you think Malfoy?"

And with that being said Astoria walked in and shut the door behind her.

Draco thought about what she said, but only for a moment, before he went back to what he was originally doing, not giving Astoria a second thought.

It wouldn't be until years later that he would fully understand what she meant.

**Thanks for reading, and remember to review please! :) **


	2. 8 Years ago

**Thanks so much to everyone who has followed, added to favorites, or reviewed this story! *Hands out cyber fudge.* From here on out the story is going to be in flashback mode for a while, but eventually it will catch up with the present. Also, I had the idea for this chapter in my head for a while now, but I originally was intending to publish it as a separate one-shot before deciding to include it as part of the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters used in this story.**

Chapter 2: 8 years ago...

Astoria first became aware of her powers when she was five years old at an Easter party her family was holding. Astoria's family had remained neutral during the first wizarding war. However, they were still elite purebloods, and participated in some traditions among other wealthy purebloods. One such tradition was that several times a year, various pureblood families would take turns holding parties where other pureblood- or halfbloods merely pretending to be pureblood- witches and wizards would attend. It was Astoria's parents' turn this year, and as such they were holding an Easter Social at their home in Greengrass Manor.

Astoria's parents were in some ways different from the majority of elite pureblood society. Both of her parents had jobs. Many purebloods were quite wealthy due to their ancestors earning enough money carrying out jobs that could only be performed by witches and wizards, and passed that money on to their descendants when they died, so that over time as a result it was often not necessary for modern day purebloods to work, so most of these purebloods were unemployed. Astoria's parents, despite being able to support themselves financially without employment, had careers anyway. Astoria's father was a Potioneer, and kept most of his potions in a cupboard in his office that he sold on the market when he felt like it. Astoria's mother was an Arithmancer.

Astoria was now standing with her sister two years her senior, Daphne, along with a girl Daphne's age named Pansy Parkinson on the Greengrass grounds away from the adults. Daphne and Astoria strongly resembled each other physically: Both had platinum blond hair that was almost pure white. However, while Daphne possessed eyes of amber, Astoria had one amber brown eye and one sapphire blue eye.

"Oooh, look at that boy over there!" Pansy sighed dreamily at a lone boy a little ways away from them who, like Daphne and Astoria, possessed platinum blond hair. "Do _you_ know who he is, Daphne?"

"No," Daphne replied uninterestedly, didn't Pansy know that boys have cooties?

"I do," Pansy bragged. "His name is Draco Malfoy, and he's our age, Daphne. Want to say hello to him?"

"Whatever," Daphne shrugged, they had nothing better to do.

The girls walked over to Draco, who was looking thoroughly bored.

"Hey, Draco," Pansy greeted.

"Hello," he stated dully.

"Draco this is my friend Daphne, "Pansy introduced.

"Yo," Daphne had a tendency to speak in what her parents called "street talk."

"Hello," Draco greeted coolly. "I'm Draco Malfoy." He then noticed Astoria. "Who is this?"

"My name is Astoria Greengrass," Said Astoria. "I'm Daphne's sister. I'm five." She added proudly.

Draco smirked. "I'm turning seven in June."

And with that being said Astoria was ignored for the time being as the older children conversed with each other. Astoria could not help but notice that Draco did not seem to be enjoying himself. Perhaps he did not like these gatherings, or maybe he was simply going through the "girls have cooties" stage and wanted some male companions instead. Astoria had always been a rather perceptive child, noticing things most children her age overlooked.

Eventually Draco excused himself to go to the restroom, however after ten minutes of him not returning, Astoria suspected he just wanted to leave. Coincidentally enough, so did she. She was not enjoying herself very much; there were no children her age to talk to other than the older ones, but they didn't feel like talking to her, and she them. None of the adults were interested in talking to her apart from telling her how pretty she looked or asking for her age.

After Pansy and Daphne left, presumably in search of Draco, Astoria eventually got tired of doing nothing and went into the kitchen to get a snack and found Draco Malfoy sitting there, looking bored.

"Hello again," she greeted politely. He did not reply, but instead lifted an apple out of the fruit bowl when it happened. Astoria saw Pansy and Daphne sneaking into her father's potion cupboard together, Pansy grabbing the bottle labeled Amortentia, going to the kitchen and pouring it on the apple…

"Don't eat that! "Astoria reacted on instinct, knocking the apple out of Draco's hand so it hit the floor with a _thud_. Astoria picked the apple back up again- she knew that many little boys didn't have a problem with eating food off the floor for some reason she would never understand- and threw it in the garbage.

"Hey!" Draco demanded, outraged. "Damn Lucius! Why did you do that, little girl?"

"Damn Lucius?" Astoria repeated. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Draco answered. "But it's what Mummy says whenever something goes wrong at our house. Now answer me!"

"Pansy and my sister poured a love potion all over that apple," Astoria had learned all about the properties of Amortentia from her father, who had showed his daughters his products and educated them on potions in general. "I saw them do it… in my head."

"Are you a Seer?" Draco asked her suddenly, appearing to be quite interested now.

Astoria blinked in confusion. "What's a Seer?"

"You don't know?" He smirked. "A Seer is a person who can see the future."

Astoria was stunned. That was the first time she had ever exhibited any sort of ability like that.

" You have one blue eye and one brown," He observed. "It is said that is often the sign of a Seer. When's your birthday?"

"February 29th," She replied. "When's yours?"

"June 5th," He boasted proudly. "I'll be turning seven. That makes me almost two years older than you, little girl. "

"I know." Astoria was attempting to appear nonchalant, although inside she was impressed a boy his age was talking to her.

He must have sensed it too because he smirked. "My father says another sign of a Seer is if they are born on Leap Year. In other words, your birthday."

"Really?" Astoria was amazed.

"Yes." Draco seemed pleased with the effect he was having on the younger girl. "In just four years I'll be going to Hogwarts. I'll get Sorted into Slytherin. Where will you go?"

Astoria thought before answering. "Well, Daphne's told me that the Slytherin common room is located in the dungeons and that scary things live down there; it's really dark, cold, and scary, and there's even a giant squid that lives in the lake and you can see it from the dungeons…"

Daphne, who had had her father tell her stories about when he was in Slytherin, had passed on and exaggerated these things to Astoria and seemed to adore the idea of seeing the Giant Squid, as well as who knew what else, rather than being unnerved like Astoria was. Astoria worried for her sister sometimes.

"Hufflepuff is located in the basement, not the dungeons, which I want to be as far away from as much as possible, so even though it's farther away from the dungeons I still don't want to be in Hufflepuff either, since I know the other Houses are in towers. That leaves either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. My mum was a Ravenclaw and liked it a lot. She says the only way to get into the common room is to solve a riddle, and I like riddles a lot. I want to be in Ravenclaw." Astoria decided proudly, waiting for Draco's reaction.

"Ravenclaw has nothing on Slytherin!" Draco exclaimed, somewhat angrily to Astoria's shock." Slytherin is the best! Everyone in my family's been in Slytherin, and they all say so. You _have_ to be in Slytherin."

"_Why_?" Astoria asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Did this boy just order for her to be in Slytherin? Who did he think he was, telling her what to do?

"I'm older than you; you have to listen to me." Draco commanded. "Respect your elders, little girl. You will be in Slytherin, or else we can't be friends."

"You want us to be friends?" Astoria was surprised at this. No older boy had ever requested- or rather, in this case, _ordered_- her friendship before.

"I've never been friends with a Seer before," Draco replied. "If you're a good girl and get into Slytherin, I might be your friend."

"Okay," Astoria found herself agreeing, if only to be polite.

Astoria talked to Draco some more and found that they actually did have some things in common, and they continued talking until it was time for Draco's parents to go home. Astoria found herself thinking that maybe Slytherin wasn't so bad after all.

Once all of the guests had left, Daphne commented to Astoria morosely," Our plan didn't work. Pansy was so disappointed."

"What plan?" Astoria asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"We tried slipping Draco some Amortentia," Daphne explained casually. "That love potion in Daddy's cupboard. It didn't work though."

"I know," Astoria acknowledged ."I stopped him from eating that apple." Astoria told Daphne about her vision and about what Draco had said. Daphne agreed to tell their parents with Astoria, not even caring if she got in trouble for breaking into her father's storage cupboard.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Malfoy Manor, after Narcissa Malfoy had finished tucking Draco into bed, she remembered her husband's behavior that day and shook her head. He had been rude to one of the party guests. Not that it was unusual for him to be rude to other people. Narcissa closed the door on her way out, muttering under her breath, "_Damn Lucius."_

**A/N: I imagine Draco would have acted differently when he was younger-to a certain extent- but I wanted to try to keep him IC at the same time. A sort of mix between how he is in the books and an ordinary little boy. Hence his behavior this chapter. Also, I was not trying to bash any of the Houses, that's just how I think Draco would think. Also, there's a reason Astoria is completely blonde this chapter when last chapter she was blonde but had a couple of brown streaks in her hair that will be explained later.**

**Please review! :)**


	3. Dementors, Talking Hats, Oh My!

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has added to favorites, story alerts, or reviewed! *Hands out cyber cookies.* There's a line in this chapter that's a quote from The Simpsons.(There's a symbol next to the quote.) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter.**** Or ****The Wind in the Willows****. Or ****The Simpsons****.**

The Seer and The Snake Chapter 3:Dementors,Talking Hats, Oh My!

Over the next several years, Astoria only ever saw Draco a few more times at Pureblood gatherings. He never bullied her the way he would do to younger Hogwarts students, but the two were not friends either. They merely acknowledged each other's presence; nothing more, nothing less.

Eventually, as years passed, time rolled around to Astoria preparing to leave for Hogwarts. It was a beautiful morning of September 1st, and the Greengrass family was making their way through Kings Kross Station.

"You'll love Hogwarts, 'Tor," Daphne Greengrass was currently in the middle of giving Astoria a pep talk for the umpteenth time that morning. "I can't wait to introduce you to everyone." Astoria nodded, only half listening to her sister for the most part. In truth, Astoria, unlike most first years, was not at all nervous about attending Hogwarts. Why should she be? Daphne was always eager to help her if need be, and unlike some students' families her parents did not care what House she was Sorted into, and neither did Daphne. Her mother was a Ravenclaw, and her father and sister were Slytherins, but there had been many relatives in her family who had been Sorted into Hufflepuff or Gryffindor as well as Slytherin and Ravenclaw.

The family of four soon reached the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Daphne ran straight through with no hesitation. Astoria took a deep breath, and a moment later did the same, closing her eyes. When she opened them, a scarlet train was stationed nearby, and hundreds of witches and wizards surrounded her.

"YOU DID IT!" Daphne squealed in delight, standing right next to her sister. "YOU DID IT 'STORI, YOU DID IT!" She then proceeded to do a little jig as their parents arrived next to them.

"We're very proud of you Astoria," Astoria's mother had arrived next to them. A moment later the girls' father tearfully stood next to their mother.

"I can't believe it," he grunted. "I'm not going to be seeing either of my little girls until Christmas." And with that being said Mr. Greengrass proceeded to start bawling eyes out.

"Oh, Dad, we'll write…" The next several minutes were spent comforting their parents, saying goodbye, and embracing.

Once they were done, Daphne and Astoria walked down the platform, being as the train would not be leaving for another twenty minutes, so Daphne decided she would point out various students to Astoria. Some of the comments that left Daphne's mouth include but are not limited to:

"That Gryffindor boy in the year below me who got Petrified last year is pretty cute, don't you think?"

"Wow that new hair cut really suits Sally-Anne Perks!"

"You know Crabbe and Goyle, right? Well, stay away from them at all costs; I fear that their stupidity is contagious. Seriously, I feel like I'm losing I.Q. points just by being in the same room as them."

"Damn that Blaise Zabini is sexy…"Here she trailed off, staring at an ebony skinned boy in the distance.

"Oh, see that girl over there?"Here Daphne pointed to a girl whose face admittedly resembled a pug somewhat."Her name's Pansy Parkinson, do you remember her? She struts around this school like she's Toad of Toad Hall.*"

Over the summer Daphne had read the Muggle book The Wind in the Willows and had insisted on everyone in her family reading the book as well. Everyone was in agreement that that book was a good read. The Greengrass' had remained neutral during the war, but Daphne was an outright Blood Traitor. Her family had no problem with this, and thus wound up learning certain tidbits of Muggle culture from Daphne.

"Ah look it's Tracey Davis, my stooge." Daphne beamed as her best friend who was not her stooge regardless of how many times she referred to her as such, walked over to her.

"Daphne, were you calling me your stooge again?"Tracey deadpanned.

"Maybe." Daphne shrugged

"I am not your stooge Daph," Tracey protested, not really annoyed but just slightly exasperated.

"You keep telling yourself that darling." Daphne muttered cheekily.

Tracey placed a playful punch on her friend's shoulder and turning to Astoria said, "Hello Astoria."

"Hello." Astoria responded friendlily. Tracey was the one who supplied Daphne with most of her knowledge of the Muggle World. Tracey had a Muggle-Born for a father and a half-blood for a mother, and as such knew a fair deal about Muggles. She and Daphne were actually intending to take Muggle Studies this year, despite being the only Slytherins in their year to do so. The girls boarded the train, Tracey leading the way.

Tracey was rather on the short side for a third year; Astoria was almost as tall as her, although in fairness Astoria was rather tall for a first year. Tracey had shoulder length mousy brown hair and a fairly pale complexion with a light dusting of freckles. Her eyes were grey with flecks of green in them. When she smiled, with her freckles and dimples, she appeared to have an eternal look of innocence on her face, and an endless amount of happiness. Tracey smiled quite often, yet there were times when to Astoria at least, her smile did not reach her eyes.

Astoria had suspected for a long time that the brunette beauty whose eyes went so well with her House colors had a secret sadness that she would not share with anyone. That she was much more complicated than she appeared. That while she may be perfectly fine on the outside, on the inside…she was breaking. That something inside her was dead. Astoria never confronted Tracey on this, however she had asked Daphne once, but she had brushed this off as Astoria imagining things. It seemed that Astoria was the only one who suspected that Tracey was secretly broken, in some way. .. lost. When Tracey had walked over to them, Astoria could sense that something had happened that made Tracey feel broken again.

Astoria's abilities as a Seer had made her be able to sense other people's emotions without them making any indication of how they were feeling. The girls now found a compartment and entered it. The rest of the train ride was spent in pleasant chatter, and Astoria sensed that Tracey was feeling happier now than before she had boarded the train. Midway through the train ride, Astoria had a vision: A dark cloaked hooded figure was turning the handle on a door and…

"Astoria!" Daphne was shaking her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Astoria broke out of her trance. "I was just having a vision."

"What about?"Tracey inquired curiously. Most people who knew Daphne knew about her Seer of a sister.

"I saw a Dementor." Astoria whispered.

Before her companions could respond to this, the lights in the compartment flickered and then went out, enveloping the group of three in complete and utter darkness. Daphne screamed. "This is what happened in my vision," Astoria realized. "I think there's a Dementor on this train."

The air in the compartment suddenly became very cold, freezing in fact. Astoria shivered, though her shiver was caused for more reasons than simply the cold. It seemed as if all of the happiness in the universe had been sucked out, never to be felt again. As if she were drowning in patches of ice, her insides freezing. As though she had a yearning that could never be satisfied. It was like pieces of her had just died, like her soul had just split into thousands of little pieces, as many particles as there are grains of sand on a beach, and she knew that there was no way she'd ever be able to find all of them again. Never had she felt so incomplete, so hopelessly and helplessly distressed.

Then the door opened. Astoria opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. She now understood the very meaning of being petrified with fear. She had read that phrase before in books, and had always thought it dumb how characters in those novels would not do anything simply because they were too scared or shocked, but she now was more sympathetic with them now, now that she understood just what it felt like.

The dementor from her vision entered the compartment, but just as soon as it had entered, it left just as quickly. The compartment's occupants remained silent until the lights flickered back on and the train began moving again. As Daphne walked over to the compartment to shut the door, Tracey burst into tears.

Astoria was stunned. She had never seen Tracey cry before, let alone so hysterically, or seen her look this terrified. Daphne, whose face was ghostly pale, rushed over to Tracey along with Astoria to give her a hug. Tracey's crying could have been classified as one of the most pitiful things Astoria had ever witnessed before in her life. Fountains of water leaked out of Tracey's eyes, as if a millennium's worth of bottled up emotions was finally revealing, every teardrop a waterfall's worth of sadness. Daphne and Astoria said nothing, for they knew not what to say.

Eventually Tracey's tears subsided and after a moment of awkward silence, gave a mumbled thank you and changed the subject back to summer holidays. The rest of the train ride was notably much more pleasant, and soon Tracey was acting as if that interruption had never happened, yet Astoria suspected that she was still thinking about it. Astoria had heard that people who had experienced an exceptional amount of emotional pain or had had a lot of tragedies occur in their lives generally reacted worse to Dementors than ordinary people did. She and Daphne had both been scared at the time, but their fear was nothing compared to Tracey's. Astoria silently pondered over what could have resulted in Tracey's extreme reaction to the Dementor.

At long last the train halted, and soon Astoria and the two older girls parted ways as they climbed into one of the carriages and Astoria was escorted by a man that Astoria could tell just by looking at must be the Hagrid Daphne had told her about.

Astoria found a boat to sit in along with some other students as they made their way across the lake. Once they reached the castle, the other soon to be first years let out collective gasps and exclamations. Even Astoria, who Daphne had told every aspect of Hogwarts to her so she'd know what to expect, was not prepared for this. Hogwarts was more beautiful than she could ever have imagined. The grand castle was dimly lit, and bathed in the moonlight, resulting in light shining on the water. The overall effect was exquisite.

After they reached shore, Astoria and her soon to be classmates climbed out of the boats and were lead by Hagrid into an entrance hall. A woman whose hair was up in a rather right looking bun introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and gave information about the Sorting Ceremony that Astoria already knew. She left for a minute, and then returned to let them into the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was almost as majestic as Hogwarts itself. Thousands of candles which remained suspended in mid air lit the hall, which was quite large, and four long tables were aligned in the center of the room. A table was off to the side where the staff was seated. A stool was in the front of the room where an old garden hat rested. Astoria knew this was no ordinary hat though, and recognized it as the Sorting Hat her sister had told her about.

The hat opened its brim and proceeded to sing a song about all four of the houses. Once it was finished, Professor McGonagall began to call names. Astoria noted that as she had expected, some students were Sorted almost instantaneously, while others the hat took longer upon deciding. Finally, "Greengrass, Astoria." Was called and Astoria calmly,- unlike most of the other first years had before her- walked up to the stool, sat down, and the hat was placed upon her head. Astoria had no preference as to where she would be Sorted: She knew Daphne and Tracey would still spend time with her regardless of wherever she wound up, even if she were to go to Gryffindor, Slytherin House's mortal enemy.

She saw Daphne wave at her and smiled.

_You would do well in Ravenclaw, _the hat mused. _You are very intelligent and mature for your age. You posses a strong morality, which would suit Hufflepuff or Gryffindor quite well. You posses the loyalty of a Hufflepuff when it comes to those you care about and are as brave as any Gryffindor. You can be rather cunning, ambitious and resourceful too, all of which are excellent qualities for a Slytherin. You have quite a bit of talent in terms of not only being skilled at magic, but at being a Seer as well, and I suspect that Slytherin would help foster that talent quite well ._

"SLYTHERIN!" The Hat screamed as Astoria was met with an extraordinary amount of applause coming from a certain Slytherin girl who was biologically related to Astoria, as well as the usual amount of applause first years received from the House as a whole. Astoria rushed over to the Slytherin table and sat down next to the seat Daphne had been saving for her. Daphne nearly squeezed her to death in a tight hug.

Finally the Sorting finished, and everyone was allowed to eat at long last. The food really was quite delicious in Astoria's opinion. She made small talk with some of the other first years as she ate until the feast ended. The first years were given the password for the common room upon reaching it, and retreated to their dormitories for bed. As Astoria fell asleep that night, she found herself happily wondering what tomorrow would bring.

***That's a quote from The Simpsons in the episode Lisa Simpson This Isn't Your Life during this scene where Nelson is interrogating Bart and accuses him of this to which Bart responds that, "We're both in the same reading group. I think you know how smart I am." Priceless. I could not resist including a line from that scene.**

**A/N: Tracey's reaction to the Dementor will be explained later on. Personally, being as several students in the books who are in Slytherin come from families who have a history of being involved with Voldemort, I suspect that some of them have back stories that were never mentioned that were more tragic than Harry's, and therefore they would definitely not handle encountering a Dementor well, hence Tracey's reaction on the train. Also, what do you think of the way Astoria, Daphne, and Tracey are portrayed? Please review!:D **


	4. Astoria's First Day

**A/N:Thanks so very much to everyone who has reviewed, added to favorites or story alerts!*Hands out Thanksgiving left overs* I apologize for it being so long since my last update. You see, in addition to ****The Seer and the Snake****, I currently am working on several stories at the moment, including:**** The Escapades of Three Slytherin Girls,****The Magic of Greengrass' Greengrass,****(formerly known as ****Workplace Rumors****) ****The Lion and The Snake****, ****Draco and Astoria's Infinite Playlist****, ****Next Time ****(an Artemis Fowl fanfic of mine), and ****Leap of Faith**** (a Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler fanfic of mine) . So as you can see, I've got a lot on my plate at the moment. However, I will soon be done with Draco and Astoria's Infinite Playlist, which will give me a bit more time for working on my other fanfics. So my New Year's Revolution is going to be updating all of my fanfics at least once a month. So let's all keep our fingers crossed about that. I promise you, I will keep writing this regardless of my frequency-or lack thereof- in updates, but I will try very hard to shoot for once a month. Anyway, here's chapter 4! :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****Harry Potter.**

Chapter 4:Astoria's First Day

Astoria woke up the next morning and, after performing all her morning rituals, she walked out of the girls' dormitories into the common room. No sooner had she shut the door behind her when Daphne jumped up from the front of the couch she had been hiding in front of and hollered, "GOOD MORNING ASTORIA!" before she proceeded to pull the now thoroughly shocked Astoria into a bear hug.

"Oh my God Daphne, you just completely scared the Hell out of me!"Astoria exclaimed, face flushing not only from the tightness of Daphne's hug but as well as from the fact that all of the occupants in the Slytherin common room- which was the majority of the house, being as most of the Slytherins were just about to go down to breakfast- were currently staring at them.

Daphne gasped loudly."Damn it Astoria, where the hell do you learn that sort of language?!"

"I couldn't possibly imagine," a new voice spoke and the two sisters turned around to find themselves faced to face with Tracey, who had just entered the room from the dormitories without them noticing. "Daphne, I told you it was a bad idea to frighten her on her first day."

Turning to Astoria, she informed her, "We had this conversation in the dormitory when we first woke up. I tried to talk her out of it, but not only would Daphne not listen to reason, she purposefully slowed me down so that I could not warn you."

"I did no such thing!"Daphne protested, but there was really no point; Daphne had always been a terrible liar, and it seemed highly unlikely that would change in the near future, if ever.

"Oh, so I suppose my shoes just hid under your bed by themselves then?"Tracey quipped, rolling her ivy flecked cloudy gray eyes.

"You know what, how about we all go down to breakfast, there's nothing to see or do here!"Daphne suggested loudly, racing to the common room door."Race you!"

The girls walked down to the Great Hall together, with Daphne making comments about Hogwarts among the way. They reached the Slytherin table soon after entering the hall."Astoria, you simply must sit with us for breakfast!"Daphne declared, finding three empty seats for them.

"She really should get to know her roommates, "Tracey pointed out.

"Oh, she'll have plenty of time to get to know them!"Daphne stated dismissively. "Right now she can sit with us."

"Astoria, I'm sure you've learned this over the years, but don't always listen to your brain addled sister. You can sit where you like, "Tracey reminded her.

"I'll sit here for now; I can eat with my classmates another time."Astoria decided, taking a seat.

"Yeah Tracey, "Daphne huffed."Yeah Tracey, the girl who would imply her best friend in the entire world was less than intelligent! This is because I'm blonde, isn't it? Well, just because you happen to be the brunette straight man in our relationship, does not make me the dumb blonde!"

"I was implying you were insane, not stupid, "Tracey replied." I know you're not unintelligent; anyone who has seen your grades knows that."

"Oh, all right then, "Shrugged Daphne, who was perfectly used to people accusing her of being mentally unstable. As the Prefects went around the table giving students their schedules, Astoria noticed a man with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and obsidian eyes seated at the Head Table. "Is that the man you were telling me about? The man who is head of Slytherin?"

"Oh yes," Daphne sighed dreamily. "That's Professor Snape, the Potions Master. As you can clearly see, he is very handsome. How old do you think he is anyway?"

"Too old for you, "Said Astoria, who was slightly disturbed at the prospect of Daphne romanticizing over a man more than twice her age.

"That's not what I meant!"Daphne protested, amber eyes narrowed towards the ground, blushing obviously. A moment later Daphne received her schedule and almost instantaneously both girls let out shrieks of delight so loud the majority of the Slytherin table and even some people over at the Ravenclaw table turned to stare at them, and this was saying something due to the Great Hall having an exceptional amount of clamor this morning.

"We have our first Muggle Studies lesson first period, "Daphne squealed exuberantly. "Oh, I'm so excited! What do you have first period, Astoria?"

Astoria, who had received her schedule soon after their outburst, responded that Potions was going to be her very first Hogwarts class ever. Daphne let out a squeal of delight upon discovering this.

"Oh, you're going to love him Astoria! He always favors Slytherin students, which is very good because as much as I like him, even I have to admit he is something awful to the other students at times. Although his dry wit and sarcasm are hilarious, "Daphne rambled. "He's brilliant as well. And his voice is _so_ sexy too… If his voice were a waterfall, I certainly wouldn't mind drowning in it-" Daphne spent the rest of breakfast prattling on about how wonderful Snape was, while Tracey cast a Muffliato Charm around her and Astoria so they could not here the rest of what Daphne was saying. "Isn't that very advanced magic? The Muffliato Charm I mean, "Astoria realized soon after Tracey did this,

"It might be, "Tracey answered offhandedly.

Eventually the girls finished breakfast. Daphne insisted on walking Astoria down to the dungeons along with Tracey. "So you just wait here until he comes-"It was evident by Daphne's tone who she was talking about, so Astoria didn't bother inquiring as to who "he" was-"and have a great day, Astoria! We'll see you at lunch!"And with that being said, Daphne gave Astoria a quick hug before she and Tracey eagerly rushed off to their first Muggle Studies class.

A few students had already been at the door by the time Astoria had arrived and had witnessed the hug between her and Daphne. There was an awkward silence that hung in the air for a few minutes after this. Astoria looked around at her classmates. There were two Gryffindors and two Slytherins waiting. A couple more students arrived during this awkward period of silence. A Gryffindor girl had raven curls and chocolate brown eyes. She was the first to break the silence."Who were those girls?"

"One of them was my sister, Daphne Greengrass," Astoria replied."The other was her best friend, Tracey Davis. I'm Astoria Greengrass. What's your name?"

"Romilda Vane."She responded friendlily.

"Those two girls are both Slytherins, right?"A Gryffindor boy with Romilda asked Astoria for confirmation.

"Yes why? I'm in Slytherin too, by the way." Astoria enlightened him.

"Oh," the boy looked sorely disappointed."Why does Slytherin get to have all the hot chicks?" He looked at Astoria longingly."You don't think there's any way you can have a House transfer, do you?"

"Excuse me," Romilda piped up, clearly irritated." It's not a good idea for you to accuse another House of having, as you put it, "all the hot chicks." Especially when one of the good looking Gryffindor girls is standing right next to you and is seriously thinking about kicking your arse for that comment."

"Oh," the boy realized how moronic he had acted a moment ago. "You're pretty cute too Rhoda..."

"The name's Romilda," The owner of that name corrected him.

"Whatever you say Toots," The boy agreed."Whatever you say,"

"Do not call me Toots," Romilda snapped. So caught up in their conversation were they that they did not even notice that more first years were approaching the door for class.

So this, Astoria thought to herself, would be what her classmates would be like. These were the people she would have Potions with for the next several years. Eventually everyone reached the door, and shortly after that Professor Snape arrived. "In, "he stated simply. Astoria thought she semi understood now what Daphne meant about his voice. Everyone obeyed and found seats. Snape started class with the roll call. When he got to Greengrass his eyes rested on Astoria."Are you related to Daphne Greengrass?"

"Yes," Astoria added immediately after this, "But I assure you that I am nothing like her, sir."

"Very well then, "and Snape continued the roll call. Astoria wondered briefly if she had detected a trace of amusement in his voice when she said that. After attendance he assigned the class to brew their very first potion. Astoria did not have much trouble as a result of her father having taught her how to brew potions when she was younger. In fact, she was one of the few students in the class who Snape did not criticize once the entire lesson. Eventually the lesson ended, and Astoria left the classroom with the other Slytherins for their first Charms class, which Astoria found to be quite enjoyable.

Lunch time rolled around after Charms, where Astoria met up with Tracey and Daphne, both of whom were thoroughly excited about Muggle Studies. Once they were finished talking, Daphne queried,"So, Astoria? How was Potions?"

"Good, "Astoria answered.

"What do you think of Professor Snape?"Daphne pressed on.

" He makes me glad I'm a Slytherin."Astoria decided after a moment. Daphne, Tracey, and Astoria continued talking until it was time for the afternoon classes, which for Astoria were History of Magic and Transfiguration. After Transfiguration, Astoria went to the common room(dinner would not start for another hour or so) to find a group of older students in Daphne's year, Daphne and Tracey among them, talking in heated voices.

"Astoria, you know who Draco Malfoy is, right?"Tracey inquired, she and Daphne leaving the group over to a more private part of the common room.

"Yeah, why?" Astoria was intrigued.

"Guess what that idiot did."Daphne deadpanned.

"What?"If this was something even Daphne found ridiculous, it must have been seriously stupid.

"Today in Care of Magical Creatures we were dealing with hippogriffs, and Draco, not paying attention to the teacher, decided it would be a good idea to go and insult one."

"He didn't"Astoria gasped in disbelief.

"He did, "Tracey said grimly."And now he's in the Hospital Wing."

"Is Hogwarts always this crazy?" Astoria could not help but ask with a laugh.

"Ever since Daphne enrolled here, yes," Tracey's responded jokingly, prompting Daphne to hit her repeatedly with a pillow residing on one of the couches. Astoria smiled, it really had been a good first day. She could not help but suspect this crazy place would grow on her.

**Please review!:D **


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